Clutch – “Psychic Warfare”

Around the time that Clutch released “The Elephant Riders” I saw them live six times in two years. This quasi groupie move isn’t a thing I had ever done before and I’ve not done it since.

The reason why it happened is simple; I had a yearning for the type of straightforward rock energy that Clutch has in spades live.

Amazingly in it’s rarity, their next album, “Blast Tyrant” conveyed that live energy in the recorded format perfectly. Certainly, their previous albums have energy. “Blast Tyrant” has Energy.

Since then, Clutch has released two more albums. The first was “Earth Rocker.” Another solid showing with “Cyborg Betty” as it’s gem.

The most recent (2015) is “Psychic Warfare.” Where “Blast Tyrant” was more southern rock and “Earth Rocker” was more straight rock, “Psychic Warfare” is more punk in it’s nature. The guitar on “X-Ray Visions” is immediately distorted, the BPM are high with emphasis on the kick and snare.

Fallon’s lyrics and wit are front and center as always and the songs roll easily into one another is a way that can only be achieved if a band has been playing together for a good deal of time. The album sounds like it was written in one fell swoop.

There’s not much else to say. The Energy is there. Clutch keeps getting it done.